Cursed
by KatherineMP20
Summary: BTR and their friends stumble upon a strange story that peaks their interest. As information slows down, they decide to take matters into their own hands. Rated M for possible blood/gore/death later on. Additional summary inside.
1. Chapter 1

**_*AN* I've been thinking the plot for this story for a while, I couldnt get it to 'work' so to speak. this is a fantasy/sci-fi story, which I have written before but not that often. This one might take a while to finish although I dont think it will be all that long. I may start/finish other stories while I am in the process of this one. _**

**_the character "Katie Knight- does not exist in any of my stories (at least for the time being.) Any mention of "Katie" is an OC based off me. _**

**_Summary: A mysterious beast works it's way into LA. Although it isnt causing any damage, it certainly raises interest among the group of friends. As they try to piece together the whole story, they eventually stumble upon new evidence that entices them to start their own investigation and solve the mystery as to what this strange animal is, where it came from and why it's here._***

It was early in the morning, around 5am, when James woke up. Although it was his day off, he still woke up early due to his internal clock being set to heading to the studio everyday. He grabbed himself a bowl and poured some cereal and headed to the living room. He turned the TV on, which was on a high volume from last night, and quickly turned it down to a near whisper before tuning into some local news.

Not much was going on today in the busy city, it was an odd day to say the least, traffic was clear, it was raining and there wasn't much crime in recent days. For the past few months at least there had been a noticeable difference in their surroundings, questions had arisen about it but no answers could be found. James didn't pay it any mind and just zoned out a little as he ate his breakfast.

"In other news today, a lone Los Angeles resident caught a glimpse of something that he described as odd. The man noticed a large dark shadow but couldn't see anything that would cast a shadow that big. When he looked at it again, it was gone. He investigated the scene to see something move and managed to get this photo of what many people describe as fur. With no distinguishable head, legs or tail, one can only guess as to what the image details. The man assured officials that the item had moved; skeptical, the officers had the man screened for drugs but none were found. Experts say that this could be just an animal or even a hoax by big foot fans." the news caster said. James listened to the story a little bit as it did catch his attention but he quickly brushed it off as a hoax when he heard the latter part of the story. He picked up his dishes and laid them in the sink to soak and went to take a shower.

The next day he went back to work at the studio and the day progressed as normal. He did his work along side his buddies and castmates and ordered in for lunch due to time restraints. They gathered around a large table and talked about different things and had their laughs. One of the Camille brought up a news story she heard, the same one James heard yesterday in fact. Not too many people were up at that hour so none of the others had heard about it, so they listened as she told the story. James listened in as well, since he wasn't paying attention to it that much.

"This morning the story continued because someone came forward and described a similar tale in Connecticut." she added

"Connecticut? I wonder if Katie Pryszweic knows anything about it?" Logan suggested.

"We should ask her then. Where is she anyway?" Kendall asked"I'm not sure, I havent see her all day." Lucy replied"She's not here today, she's home sick." a staff member said, over hearing their conversation

"Really? That's so unlike her, she never gets sick. I hope she's alright." Logan said

"She said she just had a sinus issue and she'd be back tomorrow." the staff member replied

"Hey guys, check it out. I was searching online and I found a legend called The Black Dog of High Park. Hikers reported seeing a black dog and when reported, it was never found. Depending on the number of times the dog was seen by one person determined the purpose. Once for luck, twice for prosperity and three times for death." Carlos told them

"That's creepy." Camille said.

"So much for man's best friend." Kendall said.

Soon enough lunch time was over and it was back to work. The rest of the day was filled with the craziness as was per usual on set until it was time to call it a day. Early the next morning they all returned for another day. Katie arrived a bit later than usual but she was greeted by anxious co-stars.

"Katie! Glad to see you're feeling better and on your feet!" Logan said first.

"Thanks. I am feeling much better. Hope I didn't miss too much or slow anyone down."

"Nonsense. These things happen, we've all taken our personal days. Besides you're rarely out so you're excused." James assured.

"Oh, we wanted to ask you something." Kendall said

"About?" she replied

"A legend we read about online in CT. About a black dog?" Kendall continued

"Oh, yeah I heard about that one. I don't know the details but I've heard it. Something about seeing a black dog 3 times means death." she informed

"Yeah that's the one." Logan said.

"Why a sudden interest in my home state legends?" she asked

"Havent you watched the news lately?" Camille asked

"No. Why?" Katie responded

"Some guy caught a weird looking animal on camera and upon further investigation, they found a similar sighting in CT." James explained

"Oh, I think I know what you're talking about. It has nothing to do with the black dog legend, its just some unknown or fake animal like the whole big foot thing." Katie said.

"Really? That's kind of a let down…" Lucy said"I know I was looking for this cool back story and everything." Camille added

"Sorry to be the bearer of bad news." Katie said. They headed to their dressing rooms as they discussed some other points before dropping the story completely. Katie looked up the story real quick on her laptop when she was alone. The pictures really didn't give away much at all except that whatever it was, had dark fur. She stared at the photo and processed the story as a whole but still she couldn't help but wonder…


	2. Chapter 2

**_*AN* The character "Katie Knight- does not exist in any of my stories (at least for the time being.) Any mention of "Katie" is an OC based off me. _**

**_Just a heads up, I will be changing the titles of some of my stories soon. As I mentioned in a past AN I was trying to make a series and then use only one word to describe the story as a whole and that word would also be used as a revelation or opening/closing line. I got a little bored with this one and it was getting hard to come up with clever names.  
_**

The story lasted only another few days before it vanished from the airwaves and people no longer talked about it. There were a few groups who decided to devote their time and effort into finding this mystery animal and spent months searching without so much as a clue to it's existence. The months went by as normal and since filming had ended, Katie was enjoying some well deserved time off at home, while the guys toured the world. Soon enough she was called back to the studio to go over a new script with Camille, Lucy, Tyler, Dak, Jett, Gustavo and Kelly. The guys would be back in LA in another week but this episode was mostly about the supporting cast. They began work straight away and filmed the entire episode in just over a week; ahead of schedule no less. They earned a few days off and would come back in 3 days when BTR would be back from their vacation.

When everyone returned, the hot topic was the return of the mystery animal. This time, avid photographers got pictures and video of the animal which appeared to be some sort of deformed dog. Experts, or at least that was what they called themselves, were stumped as too what it was and why it was here. There wasn't enough evidence to provide a theory nor was there a pattern to decipher. Over the course of about a month, new information was constantly coming out as high tech computing and software analyzed the documentation of the animal in question. It shared attributes to many animals as far as appearance. It had scruffy fur like a dog or wolf, a long and strong, yet prehensile tail that resembled the body of an anaconda, the paws of a lion, long talons of an eagle or other bird pf prey.  
The group of co-stars were quite intrigued with the unfolding events and were glued to a TV or a computer whenever they could. It was nearly 2 years before a shot of the beast's face was finally captured, the photographer nearly lost his life although the animal didn't seem to want to kill him, only play or just push away. The animal's face was large with a long snout that had 4 large canine teeth that stuck out like a saber tooth tiger although not quite as big. It's eyes were a sharp golden yellow and glistened in the moon light.

The girls of the group thought the animal was cute, despite all of its seemingly random parts.  
"It looks scared and lonely." Lucy said. The other girls agreed but the other guys weren't so quick to jump on board.  
"It might be lonely but who knows how dangerous it is. No one knows what it even is." James said  
"Its just a displaced animal, unwanted because of its flaws. Why else would it be roaming the streets of LA?" Camille defended  
"Whatever it is, it seems to have changed LA for the better, has anyone noticed that traffic has gotten less congested and there doesn't seem to be as many violent crimes?" Kendall suggested.  
"Everyone is too scared to come out of their houses." Logan commented.  
"That may be true, I mean there has to be one powerful force to stop something as big as all the gang rivalry." Carlos agreed .  
"Yeah, but this started way before these pictures came out; at least I think so. These stories have been few and far between. I could be way off on the estimate." Kendall said.  
"I don't think we need to be afraid of it. What ever it is." Katie said.  
"Why not?" James asked.  
"Well, according to several reports, it runs off when spotted. Its more afraid of us then we are of it. However a cornered animal might just attack. If we leave it alone, I'm sure it will leave us alone." she explained.

After their discussion the animal went undetected for many months which soon turned to a year. Talks of it soon dwindled and eventually it was all forgotten. The animal seemed to have vanished; no longer was it spotted in LA nor in the original area of Katie's home state. Soon all returned to normal, and California was once again the bustling city of movie stars and musicians.

After wrapping up another soon to be successful season, the cast went out for celebratory drinks. Some of the cast was missing since not everyone needed to be at the studio on the last day; some were on vacation or flew back home and the others would meet up at their favorite hang out just up the street from the studio. Katie, Tyler, Jett and Kelly were a few of the ones who were missing; despite trying all day, Katie was unreachable, which wasn't unusual but at the same time worrisome. Kelly had work to do and Jett had a photo shoot. Tyler had flown home with his mom to get some well deserved R&R.

They spent several hours at the hang out until they were asked to leave as closing time neared. It was almost 1am and were surprised at how late it had gotten. They said their goodbyes and went their separate ways. The girls had carpooled in Camille's car and were on their way back to the lot to retrieve their own vehicles so they could head home. Dak drove to the eatery and offered to give the other guys a ride back but they declined. Carlos, James, Kendall and Logan walked back to the studio where Logan and Carlos got in their cars and head home. James rode his bike and Kendall had walked that day since neither live too far. They lived in the same general direction so James walked with Kendall until they got to his neighbor hood then he would hop on his bike and head home himself.

They were half a mile into the walk before a noise caught them off guard.  
"Did you hear that?" Kendall asked  
"Hear what?" James replied. A moment of silence revealed a scraping sound. "What is it?"  
"I don't know." Kendall said. He couldn't help but look in the general direction of the sound and started to walk towards it.  
"Kendal what are you doing?" James asked concerned. Kendall backed off and after looking around some more, decided to keep moving. They approached an alley and the sound was more distinct; they stopped dead once they found where it came from.  
"It's close. Stay quiet and we can sneak around it." James instructed.  
"I wonder what it is?" Kendall replied  
"Probably some animal searching for some food. Either that or trouble we don't want to get ourselves into." James whispered.  
"Hey wait a minute…what if its that animal that was all over the news about a year ago. Remember that?" Kendall asked  
"Yeah I remember." James replied  
"Well, let's take a look." Kendall said.  
"Hold on, Kendall. I like animals just as much as the next person but we don't know what the personality of that thing is. It could try to kill us." James countered.  
"Only one way to find out." Kendall said as he began to sneak up on to the alley.  
"Do you have some sort of death wish or something?" James followed. Kendall sneaked across the alley way so he could duck behind a dumpster. James stayed where he was and just watched his friend sneak around. Kendall held up a hand to stop James from moving and talking, he then looked at James and pointed down the alley. James flattened himself against the wall facing the street and slowly looked around the corner. Way down at the back, something was clearly moving but the dark of the night made it difficult to make out much.

Eventually the dark shadow came closer and it became clear that it was an animal. James and Kendall watched in amazement as the creature came forward with no indication of being aggressive or even aware of their presence. They stayed still and quiet as they watched the animal move; it moved with a steady gait, though at times slow as it searched the ground, and quietly. It made barely a sound as it moved, like a cat stalking prey. A street light above them turned on suddenly and spooked the animal but gave them a glimpse of what exactly they were watching.

It was the mystery animal that was the talk of the town so long ago and it was much bigger in person, it stood nearly the height of a full size horse. It backed from the light and hung its head low before moving back up. It was smelling for something, searching for food. Kendall and James ducked back as it came up to the far side of the dumpster and flipped the lid open and scrounged around inside. Finding nothing of interest it backed out of the dumpster and knocked the lid back down. This creature either had an odd quirk or was more intelligent than the average dog.

It stopped dead for a moment before letting out a low growl. Kendall and James both sat still, their hearts racing as they looked at each other. They wanted to find out what was going on but wanted the other to actually look. James looked down and saw that the light from the overhead street lamp was casting Kendall's shadow into the alley. He motioned to him what he thought and then gathered a plan. Kendall was in an awkward position and couldn't get up to run right away or as fast as James and he was afraid to move. James was going to count to 3 on his fingers and run past Kendall, and grab his out stretched hand to give him the lift he would need to run fast and far away from the alley.

Kendall agreed and watched as James began to count off silently. One. Two. THREE! James used all the effort he had in his legs to give himself a strong enough boost to be able to lift Kendall. He reached out, eyes wide and locked onto his friend as he ran towards him.


	3. Chapter 3

**_*AN* The character "Katie Knight- does not exist in any of my stories (at least for the time being.) Any mention of "Katie" is an OC based off me. _**

**_Just a heads up, I will be changing the titles of some of my stories soon. As I mentioned in a past AN I was trying to make a series and then use only one word to describe the story as a whole and that word would also be used as a revelation or opening/closing line. I got a little bored with this one and it was getting hard to come up with clever names._**

**_This is going to be longer than I thought, only because the plot is starting to come together and I want to try my luck at throwing in some clues/twists/turns/cliff hangers. Bear with me as I take a slow stroll through this story. *  
_**

**__**James' heart was pounding as he ran towards Kendall, time seemed to slow down. The moment their hands connected gave instant relief and James pulled Kendall to his feet and swung him around so he could run. James stumbled backwards but picked himself up, with the help of Kendall and they both ran for their lives. The animal was spooked at the sudden display and backed off a few feet down the alley before peaking around the corner and seeing them run off; it stood watching for a moment before following them. As it came out the alley, its long tail knocked against James bike and made it crash to the ground; the animal turned to investigate. It sniffed it and pawed at it before picking it up in its mouth and walked slowly down the now empty street.

James and Kendall ran until they reached a short but steep hill. On the other side lay Kendall's neighbor hood. They were to tired to run up the hill and stopped at the foot, looking around for the beast but it was no where to be found. They rested for a moment, hunched over as they caught their breath, once they felt safe.  
"Dude, no way am I going home by myself. I can crash with you right?" James asked  
"Sure, no problem." Kendall replied. "I guess you were right about letting it be, I was just curious."  
"No harm done. As scary as that was, it didn't seem like it was trying to hurt us." James observed  
"You're right. It wasn't being aggressive, just cautious." Kendall agreed  
"Whatever the case, I don't want to have to go through that again. I think we got enough excitement for one night, don't you think?" James asked  
"Yeah. Let's go. It's getting late." Kendall said  
"Crap I left my bike in the alley!" James said  
"You're not going to go back for it now are you?" Kendall asked  
"If I wait until morning, it'll be gone!" James argued  
"But that animal is probably still lurking around. We lucked out this one time, who knows how it will react to us being in its territory again." Kendall defended  
"I guess you're right…that was my favorite bike too." James sighed  
"Come on, let's get home." Kendall said as he started up the hill.

Kendall and James both slept in quite late, Mrs. Knight made sure things stayed quiet while they slept. She was curious what went on last night, and why they cam home so late. She didn't really question James sleeping on her couch, the other members of the band were always welcomed any time but it did appear to be a last minute thing; James had no bags or other personal belongings. She kept herself busy in the kitchen and did light housework before checking on the boys one last time and heading out to work herself.

It was noon by the time Kendall finally woke up. He was groggy and still tired but the bright LED numbers on his clock, screamed at him to get up. He stumbled to the bathroom and got dressed before making his way to the living room where he saw James still asleep. He was tempted to wake him but decided to let him sleep. Kendall was starving and he raided his cabinets for food when he heard a buzzing sound. It was James' phone vibrating on the table. Kendall let it go a few times before calling out to James who was sound asleep so Kendall answered it for him.

"Hello?" he whispered.  
"Hi, is this James Diamond?" the voice on the other end said.  
"No, Kendall Knight. James is sleeping."  
"Oh. This is Jake at the gate house. I was just calling to let him know that I found his bike laying on the ground just outside stage 3 and he can come pick it up at his earliest convenience." Jake said.  
"Ok. I'll let him know, thanks." Kendall replied  
"No problem. Have a nice day." Jake said before hanging up  
"James, wake up." Kendall called to him. James groaned but didn't move. "James!"  
"Ughn…what?…" He said sternly.  
"Someone found your bike and brought it to the studio. It's at the gate house for you to pick up." Kendall explained.  
"Ok…I'll get it later, I'm too tired." James replied sleepily  
"Ok." Kendall replied before heading back to his room with his breakfast.

"Kendall!" James called out.  
"I'm in here." Kendall replied. He was sitting at his desk, working on a few things on his computer when he heard his friend call him. He heard James walking towards his room.  
"I want to get my bike and head home. Would you drive me to the studio?" James asked  
"Seriously?" Kendall replied  
"I don't want to run into that beast again!" James said  
"It only comes out at night, I doubt it's still roaming the streets now that everyone is bustling about." Kendall assured  
"I still don't want to chance it. Please?" James begged  
"Alright." Kendall said as he grabbed his keys off his side table, and followed James out the front door. "I'm surprised someone returned your bike."  
"Me too actually. I would have thought it would have been scrapped" James replied  
"I guess there is still a small amount of good Samaritans out there." Kendall finished.

Kendall pulled into the studio lot to let James out and waited as James collected his bike. He thanked the security officer and walked it out the gate as Kendall turned his car around and sat at the entrance to talk with James. After a quick chat and some goodbyes, they shook hands and went their separate ways until they would meet up again in a few weeks.

James hopped on his bike and headed toward his condo, he followed Kendall for quite a bit since they lived in the same direction, but lost him as Kendall went up the hill. James lived in a gated community type complex so it was on a different street. He checked in at the gatehouse and glided on his bike down the long road to the 3rd to the last road. Each house in this section was quite private; they had long driveways, numerous trees and had the option to have a fence, which James' house did. He felt his way in his pocket for his remote key to unlock the electronic gate and walked inside, making his way up the driveway.

He made his way around the slight bend and wasn't really paying attention until he happened to look up. He stopped dead when he was face to face with the beast from last night. It was staring at him, eyes narrow as it just lay on his front yard. His heart started racing as his mind began to whirl at what he should do. All he could do was stare at the beast in shock; why was it here? And what did it want?

After a long staring contest the beast got to its feet and to James' horror began to walk towards him. Not knowing exactly what to do he just tried to imitate what he saw on TV. He put his bike down gently and slowly and started to back away. The beast stopped and watched intriguingly as James moved with caution around the yard.

Its ears perked and it raised its tail in a playful motion and began to jump and rear; however due to its size, kept banging into the trees and broke off several large branches. It had gotten even bigger since last night and was now about 10 feet at the shoulder. James was scared for his life and all he could think was to get away as fast as he could. When the beast turned it's attention to an itch, James took the opportunity to run away as fast as he could and he did so quietly. He looked back when he heard rustling and saw the beast coming after him. He turned forward to late to see a large branch and tripped over it, face first into the dirt. He scrambled to get up and was on his feet in 2 seconds but as soon as he took his first step, he collapsed in pain. A shooting pain ran up his leg, something was wrong and he couldn't run away. He turned over to see the beast slowly walking to him. It's head was down, the shoulder blades clearly visible as it moved, it gave a low growl as it got closer and inspected the air around it and James.

James's eyes were wide, heart beating a mile a minute, short shallow breaths barely escaping his lips as he saw his doom leering over him. He began to feel light headed and dizzy and soon his vision became blurry. He tried to shake the feeling but it seemed to make it worse, he put a hand to his head, still trying to focus on the beast. Each time he blinked, the animal was much closer than before. He saw its glowing golden eyes before everything went black.


	4. Chapter 4

**_*AN* The character "Katie Knight"- does not exist in any of my stories (at least for the time being.) Any mention of "Katie" is an OC based off me. _**

**_Just a heads up, I will be changing the titles of some of my stories soon. As I mentioned in a past AN I was trying to make a series and then use only one word to describe the story as a whole and that word would also be used as a revelation or opening/closing line. I got a little bored with this one and it was getting hard to come up with clever names._**

**_This is going to be longer than I thought, only because the plot is starting to come together and I want to try my luck at throwing in some clues/twists/turns/cliff hangers. Bear with me as I take a slow stroll through this story. *  
_**

James heard voices but he couldn't tell where they were coming from. Slowly he became more conscious as he tried to focus on the voices and what they were saying.  
"….hospital….traumatic….injuries….."  
"What? What are they talking about?"  
Suddenly he felt himself wake up and he opened his eyes wide, as he sat up in bed trying to catch his breath. A team of nurses tried to calm him back down and get him to lay back but it took some effort as he struggled against them. In time he was more manageable and his heart rate returned to normal.  
"Sir, you're going to be just fine; you had some sort of accident. Do you remember anything?" a nurse asked. James thought for a moment as he looked around; he was drawing a blank so far so he started with his own questions.  
"What happened? Where am I?"  
"You're in the hospital. You were found unconscious in your front yard; a neighbor heard all kinds of commotion. We think you may have fainted then hit your head. You also have a sprained knee so you wont be walking for a while. Can you tell me your name?"  
"James Diamond." he replied  
"Ok, James. Just sit tight and we'll get you fixed up and you can go home in a day or two." she said with a smile. She readjusted some of the machines, checked numbers and tucked James in. "I'll come check on you a little later, right now you can get some rest."  
James settled down for a little bit and just stared at the ceiling as he tried to think about what happened. A twinge of pain in his leg made him uncomfortable but brought back the memory of the pain he felt in his yard. The whole story was coming back piece by piece although slowly. He thought about calling a friend to see if they knew anything but his phone and all his personal items were in a bag, in a closet, across the room. He lay back with a sigh and soon drifted to sleep.  
He slept for much of his stay at the hospital due to the pain meds he was given. He was given a quick lesson on how to use his new crutches and also how to care for his injuries before being discharged. He sat in the lobby of the hospital with no ride home and searched through the bag of all his stuff to find his cell that had since died. He had no loose change for a payphone and couldn't find a phone to call out on that wasn't already occupied.  
He was recognized by a staff member and he gave James a ride home. The guy, Mike, drove him right up to the gate of the community and from there, James carded in, thanked Mike and was escorted but community security up to his condo. James' heart raced as they approached as it all came flooding back to him; was that thing still there or did it move on again? And why did it want him?  
He crutched up to his house, his dog running out the dog door to greet him. James got settled quickly and plugged in his phone to see several messages, missed calls and voicemails. He called every to say he was ok and to fill them in on what happened as far as the hospital but when he called Kendall, James made sure to tell the whole story. Kendall came over later in the day to discuss the events that happened in more detail.  
Concerned that their encounter with the mystery animal was what caused it to appear again and this time follow James home, Kendall decided to enlist some help. Since he was an animal lover, he didn't want to see it shot and killed or experimented so he enlisted some help from Camille, Katie, Logan and Dak. They agreed to get together at noon the next day as they spent the rest of the day gathering supplies. After a brief discussion and mission break-down they spent their time putting plans together as to where, when and how to search for this animal. They were going to start small just by getting pictures and video before actually approaching it.  
As soon as it turned dusk, they got their gear together and waited in James' yard to see if it would return. James was in no condition to go on this hunt so when dark fell Logan, Camille, Katie and Kendall left to check the streets of Los Angeles while Dak stayed behind with James. Armed with paintball guns, water guns and a few knives to use as a last resort in case things went wrong, they scoured ally ways, dead ends, abandoned shacks and what buildings they could enter but ultimately returned empty handed without so much as a clue. Every time it vanished, it seemed to do so into thin air.  
Bummed out about the lack of evidence, they returned to James' place, now deemed their head quarters, and spent the night. They weren't about to give up and tried many more times throughout the course of a few weeks but with no luck, they eventually began to lose hope and gave up the effort. They talked about it for a little while, about a week, before giving it up all together. The guys began a European tour and would be overseas for about 2 months. Having a new task to focus on, made them forget the failure of the mission and they looked forward to a great tour.  
The visited many local theaters, shopping centers and historical places in between shows. At night they performed and would be back on the bus, heading to the next city right after. They spent many days on the bus at a time as far as living and only got out to gas up or play a show. Finally in London, they were able to snag a hotel and they all got their own rooms to stay away from the others for a while. They had a long enough break between cities that they could stay for two days as they enjoyed the pool, spa, work out room and all the other amenities and local entertainment.  
It wasn't until Carlos sat back to watch some TV when he caught a news story that sound familiar.  
"Tonight, we bring you an addition to a story we brought you last week. In the USA, sightings of a mysterious animal began to appear, first on the east coast and then migrating to the west. Photographs were captured last night of a similar if not the same animal. It is unknown if this is a new species of if this animal is roaming the planet in search of it's forever home. This is the third sighting in the UK and although residents are worried, it appears as though, the animal means no harm and is just lost. It shies away from people who were brave enough to approach it and only appears at night as it tries to stay out of everyone's way. Officials warn to stay away from the animal, not knowing it's unpredictable nature and to just let it alone so it can move on in peace." The English Anchor woman said.  
Shortly after the story ended, his phone rang; Kendall was calling about the story. They planned a new mission and contacted Logan who was more than ready; James on the other hand, declined. After his run in with the animal he wanted no part in its capture or study. Once the hotel lay dormant at closing hours around 10pm, the three snuck out to the bus to gather their equipment and began their hunt. They didn't have to go far, just beyond the hotel in a large clearing that separated the city from the country side, a large mound lay still just inside a natural nook in the hills.  
It was a quiet, clear night, unusual for the time of year and they quickly but stealthily climbed over the short fence and snuck up on the animal. Not knowing where it's head was, they fanned out, paintball guns pointed and loaded, to surround the animal. They didn't want to shoot it but they had to think of their own safety and hoped that if the animal did strike, the paintballs would be enough to stun it or slow it down long enough so they could run away.  
Logan took pictures with his night vision camera to look at later to see if he could gather any new evidence. They grew concerned after a minute because the animal was always active at night but currently it was sleeping. They were being quiet but even the sound of Logan's camera, their whispering and movements went undetected; much to their surprise. Last encounter, the animal showed so many keen senses that it would be near impossible to sneak up on or hide from it for a long time. Logan finished up with his pictures, taking nearly 100, and got behind his friends as they backed away, guns still pointed at the animal. They met real quick in Logan's room and took a peek at some of his shots before their manager rounded them up to go to bed.  
They slept in the next day but they were all up before noon. Logan had gotten up first and when he went to the main lobby to get a workout in the weight room, he noticed a crowd of people, flashing lights and just all sorts of commotion. He called for a bodyguard and Logan checked it out from the windows. He couldn't see much but from what he could see, he assumed that everyone was making a fuss about the animal. A swat team was called in but no where to be found.  
He turned to go back to his day when a rumbling was felt and heard, causing screams of terror and everyone running back inside. Logan raced back to the window and this time he could see that officers were standing just beyond the fence, guns aimed. He ran outside to see the large beast awake, but tired and weak as it faced off against the numerous opponents. It was obvious it didn't want to fight, t just wanted to be left alone but it was cornered and had no where to go.  
Logan called Kendall in a panic and told him what was going on. Him and Carlos arrived in minutes and they ran outside to see what was happening. Officers, threw stones, smoke bombs and even tased it but it just took the abuse as it cried out in pain. It had gotten quite large since the last encounter and could take the beating but it still hurt to see and hear it's cries.  
"Fire at will!" the chief said.  
"No!" Carlos called out  
"Don't do it!" Logan added  
"Stay out of this!" The chief reprimanded  
"Cant you see your hurting it? It just wants to be left alone!" Kendall said  
"We don't want it here, it needs to go back where it came from." the chief responded  
"It's hurt! It cant go anywhere!" Logan said  
"Hold your fire!" the chief called out  
"Carlos wait!" Kendall called out to his friend who had broke past the barricade. The animal growled and lunged at Carlos in anger thinking he would hurt it more.  
"It's ok, I'm not going to hurt you, it's alright." Carlos soothed. The animal watched him intently as it let out a hiss in it's throat. Carlos searched the animal and found the wound, it was a deep cut full of glass from the paw pad up to it's hock, it appeared as though it kicked something. The wound was healing on it's own but it would just need time. Carlos didn't touch the animal and just backed away and shooed the officers with him. The animal lay down and watched before lying to its side. The guys checked periodically to see if the animal was still there and it was but when they woke up the next morning to leave for the next city, the animal was gone.

***AN* Bear in mind this story is different than things I have written before for this website. This story could be considered an experiment on my own behalf. I'm publishing it here just for a safe place so to speak. whether readers like it or dont, doesnt matter to me, at least not on this story. I'm trying different things on this one so it really is for my own benefit. Feel free to leave feedback thoughts opinions, foreshadowing, let downs, changes etc. I'm not going to go back and change what I wrote but I can always use suggestions in future stories but no promises, sorry. This is also a reason as to why the grammar, spelling and overall outline and setup are the way they are, I'm treating this as a rough draft story, published for safe keeping/feedback. No need to leave comments on the bad spelling, punctuation, capitalization and what not, I'm aware of it but like I said, this is just a rough draft story since I am trying something new.***


	5. Chapter 5

**_*AN* The character "Katie Knight"- does not exist in any of my stories (at least for the time being.) Any mention of "Katie" is an OC based off me. _**

**_Just a heads up, I will be changing the titles of some of my stories soon. As I mentioned in a past AN I was trying to make a series and then use only one word to describe the story as a whole and that word would also be used as a revelation or opening/closing line. I got a little bored with this one and it was getting hard to come up with clever names._**

**_This is going to be longer than I thought, only because the plot is starting to come together and I want to try my luck at throwing in some clues/twists/turns/cliff hangers. Bear with me as I take a slow stroll through this story. *  
_**

The guys finished up their tour with no further trouble and were back in the states in 2 weeks. They had to go straight to work filming the new season so they only got a few days to themselves before the early mornings began again. They were happy to see their friends and co-stars and it was happy greetings all around. Stories about the tour and what people were up to went around for a little bit before it was time to start the table reads and testing. They were about to get started but Lucy hadn't arrived just yet, so they waited a few minutes and she came hobbling in on crutches.  
"Lucy! What happened?" Katie asked  
"It was an accident; I got impaled on some glass and had to have surgery." Lucy explained  
"Why didn't you tell someone? We could have worked around it." Paul said  
"I thought I would be better by now. I can walk a little bit on it. I didn't think it was a big deal." she said  
"Nothing we can do about it right now. Just take a seat and we'll at least get the table read going, then we can figure out what we're going to do." Paul said. Lucy was helped into her chair and catered too for the day before Paul called it a day. It took longer to film the show since they had to fill in the script with ways to block out Lucy's injury and they didn't want to write it in since there was no place to put it. She mostly just sat in her dressing room all day as the others worked their parts.  
As they kept busy, no one was able to focus on any new leads in the case of the mystery animal. Logan had no time to go over the photos completely and there was no new evidence to break any new leads on. It was several months before it was seen or heard of again.  
"Another sighting of the mystery animal comes in tonight from right here in Los Angeles. Several months prior, a sighting was found in London where the animal was sentenced to death but escaped without harm. Experts have given the code name "Demon" to the animal as it showcases supernatural talents such as change in size, appearance and other abilities, most recently, flying. A passerby, who happened to belong to a research group for Demon noticed it's large paw prints leading out of a large desert area. The other end stopped dead and was replaced but what appeared to be human shoe prints. Casts were made of the prints in an effort to help identify a witness who may have seen anything." The newscaster said before breaking to another story.  
"Sounds like whoever saw it, became the next meal for that thing." James stated.  
"Possibly, why else would the tracks stop?" Lucy asked  
"but why wouldn't investigators just say that?" James asked  
"they don't want to cause riots or mass chaos and panic." Katie replied  
"What if the person wasn't eaten? What if the person transformed into the animal?" Carlos offered  
"What?" Katie questioned  
"yeah like it had mutation powers!" he continued  
"Really Carlos?" Logan brushed off  
"This is real life, not a science fiction movie" Kendall stated  
"it could happen, we don't know the truth behind all this science stuff." Carlos defended.  
"he's right in a way. Beyond the basics such as magnets, biology, and Chemistry we learn in school, we have no idea what lies beyond in quantum, theoretical, or experimental physics. Even astrophysicists know more than we ever could." Logan agreed.  
"See! I was right."  
"I didn't say you were completely right, just that there is always a possibility since these kinds of things arent yet known." Logan stated. They were interrupted by the news once more as they continued the story with breaking news.  
"Breaking news, straight into our studio. New discoveries have been made in the stride to identify Demon. Under DNA testing the animal appears to be a type of chimera although instead of sharing DNA with 2 animals, it shares DNA with several animals. Chimeras are usually always created by humans but in this case, there is no documentation of this type of experiment. Officials believe that it is possible that this may be an escaped experiment from an underground laboratory. DNA has yet to be identified as to what types of animals it is made from but stay tuned to channel six for the latest updates as they come into our studio." The anchor continued.  
"That's awful! How could someone do that to an animal?" Camille said disgusted.  
"Its done all the time all over the world unfortunately. There are some sick people on this planet. There are people that are obsessed with learning how things work and they will stop at nothing, creating their own experiments no matter how sick, twisted or illegal they may be. I feel sorry for the animal, but at least it's free." Katie said.  
"But now it wont be left alone. Some people want it dead, and others want it captured for more experiments. Don't they think that it's been through enough? Why cant they just leave it alone?" Lucy said disgusted  
"All the more reason for us to help it. We might be the only ones who don't want to see it killed or captured. All these magazines, news stations and talk shows are paying big money for pictures and video of this thing which is causing so many people to look for it. Whether it's a natural animal or lab made, we should at least try to help it." Kendall said standing up.  
"Agreed. With all of our abilities put together, we're bound to come up with something." Katie said.  
"Then it's settled, our days are spent here and our nights, we go out hunting. Now we just need our first plan."  
"Logan, still have those pictures?"  
"Yeah, they are on my computer."  
"Send me a copy. You and I will both look over the photos from top to bottom and see what we can come up with. James, it would help if you can tell me everything you remember about both encounters with the animal."  
"Sure."  
"As far as Plans go, I say everyone come up with one and we'll work out the bugs next time we meet. Weapons and armor lands on you Carlos."  
"No problem." he replied. Carlos, Logan, and Camille left to get started on their tasks. Kendall was called to set shortly after.  
"Give me a few minutes?"  
"I can get you 10."  
"Plenty."  
"Ok."  
"James, reconsider dropping out of the hunt. We really could use your help." Katie said  
"Just because it was at your house doesent mean anything, its not like it even hurt you on purpose. You're the one who fell." Lucy said.  
"How did you know?" James questioned. He was by himself when the accident happened and she was in another state when it happened and want able to visit. He woke up alone and never knew how he got there.  
"You told me." she said. "Or rather, that's what I gathered from the story you told me."  
"Oh." James replied. Katie was called to set immediately and she left in a hurry, saying a quick goodbye on her way out the door. Kendall was called again seconds later.  
"I have to get to set, just think about it, James. I know you arent afraid, but don't let one accident ruin your chance to help save an animal. You and I both know this would mean a lot to Katie." he said before leaving. James sat in silence for a moment before he excused himself from Lucy's room and headed to his room to think.  
Kendall returned to his dressing room after his shift and James stopped by shortly after.  
"I'll do it." he said. Kendall looked up at him confused. "I'll go on the mission." he said. Kendall gave him a smile and James left to go to set. They would talk later once everyone was all set with their job assignments. It was another early night and they met at Carlos' house. They ordered some take-out, had some laughs around the table and got down to business once they all finished. They spent several hours planning, talking and drawing out everything before they came up with 3 ideas and areas to search and set a date for tomorrow night. They had the day after off and could spend much of the night searching for the so called demon.  
They tried for several nights but had no luck in locating the animal itself or even an indication as to where it might have been, if it was still around. Somehow they were missing something; the animal didn't have a set pattern at all, at least not one that was discernable by them. When it appeared, it vanished without much of a trace but the time between appearances varied greatly. Logan's photos were great but they didn't hold any new information that wasn't already known.  
After a week, they received a vacation and they took a break from the hunt for a while to just enjoy themselves. Reports came in of the animal's DNA and it was a long list. Each chromosome was matched to a certain characteristic of another animal. Some traits such as it's paws had no DNA link but it was easy to see that they were paws of a lion. The chromosomes were difficult to tell apart or completely read so much of the info was just a guess as to what exactly it controlled based on one part of the chromosome itself.  
It had DNA from mostly canine, equine and a little feline with minute traces of birds of prey, elephant, aquatic mammals, among others that were too difficult to make out. However, one batch of chromosomes stood out and even after several tests came back nearly inconclusive. The tests showed that human DNA was present within the sample they had obtained when tracking the prints.  
Although they couldn't be positive, they assumed that somehow, the sample was contaminated or came in contact with a human. Scientists figured the DNA must have belonged to the mad scientist whose experiment this animal was. After they ran it through many programs, nothing came back that was even close to a match but kept it on file. There were still many questions and little progress towards answers.

***AN* Bear in mind this story is different than things I have written before for this website. This story could be considered an experiment on my own behalf. I'm publishing it here just for a safe place so to speak. whether readers like it or dont, doesnt matter to me, at least not on this story. I'm trying different things on this one so it really is for my own benefit. Feel free to leave feedback thoughts opinions, foreshadowing, let downs, changes etc. I'm not going to go back and change what I wrote but I can always use suggestions in future stories but no promises, sorry. This is also a reason as to why the grammar, spelling and overall outline and setup are the way they are, I'm treating this as a rough draft story, published for safe keeping/feedback. No need to leave comments on the bad spelling, punctuation, capitalization and what not, I'm aware of it but like I said, this is just a rough draft story since I am trying something new.***


	6. Chapter 6

**_*AN* The character "Katie Knight"- does not exist in any of my stories (at least for the time being.) Any mention of "Katie" is an OC based off me. _**

**_Just a heads up, I will be changing the titles of some of my stories soon. As I mentioned in a past AN I was trying to make a series and then use only one word to describe the story as a whole and that word would also be used as a revelation or opening/closing line. I got a little bored with this one and it was getting hard to come up with clever names._**

**_This is going to be longer than I thought, only because the plot is starting to come together and I want to try my luck at throwing in some clues/twists/turns/cliff hangers. Bear with me as I take a slow stroll through this story. *  
_**

The last night of vacation, the group went out once more to see if they could find anything at all about this beast. Kendall, James, Carlos, Logan and Camille scoured the streets of LA in search of the animal. Lucy wasn't interested in searching for it anymore and Katie had yet to come back from vacation although she was due back sometime earlier in the day. Either way they would see her tomorrow. They had been searching for hours and as dawn approached, they lost faith. Eventually, they were too tired, bored and let down to continue and once they reached the desert, began to trudge back through town towards Carlos' place.

They talked amongst themselves about many things, mostly as to why the beast was no where to be found, and why it seemed as though the mission always failed. They continued down the main street, through Hollywood, quiet except for the distinct noise of their paintball armor and weapons as it hit against each other. James stopped cold, fear coursing through him, he couldn't gather why but for whatever reason he was freaked out and couldn't move. His friends tried to console him but nothing seemed to work as James dropped to his knees, trembling.

Knowing they would be in trouble, but with no where else to turn, Logan suggested calling for help, but before anyone could get a hold of their phones a blood curdling noise rang out through the town. They all froze at the sound but couldn't tell where it was coming from or what it was. Needless to say, the noise woke up much of the town as lights started coming on in apartments and houses all around them. The neighbor hood began to bustle as if it were rush hour.

The commotion of curious bystanders and residents quickly turned to shrieks of terror as gunshots could be heard in the distance as well as a lot of yelling and the same noise. Many people ran for cover in their own houses but the 5 friends were stuck with no where to go and ducked into an alley way, peaking their heads around the corner to see if anything was happening. Gunshots continued as did the yelling but they became closer and soon a rumbling began as the earth shook beneath them. Camille let out a scream as the shaking became more aggressive and the guys huddle together around her, preparing for an earth quake.

A group of gang members came running down the street, guns and knives in hand as they kept shooting backwards blindly. They had trouble running with their pants hanging so low, 2 of them ditched their pants all together when they fell to their ankles. The gang members were scared out of their minds as they ran but the trembling didn't stop, instead it only got stronger and soon enough the cause of the supposed earthquake came into the light.

It was the beast; now at half the height of a house. It's eyes were a bright golden red, teeth glistening in the moon light as they showed from it's mouth. It's sleek black fur stood on end as it again uttered it's howl; it stood it's ground as it growled, long tail whipping in the air as it locked onto its target. The 6 gang members continued to run but in an instant, it took off and seemingly in one stride, was in front of them blocking their path. It wasted no time and in one fell swoop, lowered its jaw and all 6 members vanished. It turned around and not a trace was left except for the beast licking its chops after a filling meal.

The group who had witnessed the entire thing, sank back into the alley and held their breaths as they tried to stay out of sight. The beast began to walk back to where it came from but its strong sense of smell picked up their presence. It bent down to the alley and gave a sniff before snorting and continuing on. Kendall and Carlos peeked out and watched as it walked down the street and down another alley, leading towards the Hollywood sign.

Hearts beating a mile a minute, the group sat in silence as they waited for their pulses to return to normal. Once calm and sure that there was no longer a threat, they got up and made a break for it to Carlos' house which although was a few blocks away, it felt much longer. They arrived in one piece and immediately sunk to the floor in relief once inside. No one talked much and once they ditched the armor, they all fell asleep in the living room for what little there was left of the night.

Katie arrived early that morning, around 6am by train and went straight to the Knight's residence. She had her own key as being part of the family and just crashed on the couch to avoid waking anyone. Mrs. Knight was already up and saw Kendall's bed empty and after a quick panic, checked her phone to see a voice mail from Kendall saying he wouldn't be home. She went to make breakfast and saw Katie, sound asleep on the couch and pulled out a blanket for her and covered her. Katie slept a lot on the plane but she was still a bit jetlagged and slept until about 9, when Mrs. Knight left for work. Katie got herself some breakfast and then wandered around the house for a little bit before deciding to bother Kendall; when he wasn't there, she was a little confused.

Back at Carlos' place, it was nearly 1 in the afternoon before they were all up. They were tired after an exciting night and yet didn't talk about it much. After checking phones and seeing messages and missed calls from Katie, they knew she was here and waiting and although, tired, they didn't want to let her down but ditching plans to meet up. Katie went home every break since she had more than 6 months to kill. They made it a point to meet up at least once before returning to the set to catch up and make other plans. They soon woke up enough to fully grasp what had happened the night before and wasted no time in filling Katie in, who was surprised at the sudden info downpour. She quickly went over some of the evidence they gathered in photos and video.

"Katie, I was hoping you could tell me what this is." Kendall said. He pulled out a small bag with something black in it. "James found this in his yard, it's fur but we want to know if it could be from the animal. I figured, you would know, since you know all kinds of dog fur and this thing is mostly dog." he said handing the bag to her.  
"It definitely is fur." she said as she looked at it. She opened the bag to get a closer look and she rolled it in her fingers. "It's plush and soft but yet stiff. I'm not sure what type of dog this could be from to be honest; it has too many different qualities to be able to tell." she said handing it back.  
"What about these pictures?" Logan said turning his screen to her. "I took these last night when we ran into it."  
"It's huge." Katie noticed  
"He's got to be about 12-15ft tall at the shoulder." Kendall measured  
"I don't think this thing is a male…" Katie began.  
"What makes you say that?" Kendall asked  
"Well, for starters it doesn't have a penis." Katie continued  
"This isn't even a natural animal, maybe it was created with out one." Carlos defended  
"That's a sad life…" James said nonchalantly. The girls looked at him. "If it is male I mean, if it's a girl then that's cool too! I was just saying that if it was male and had no dick then it must suck and….I'm just going to shut up now before I dig my own grave." He said.  
"So it's a girl?" Camille asked.  
"Well, I was going to say so, but Carlos could be right. If it is a genetically altered animal, then there is a possibility that it could be genderless or even modified gender. The frame of the animal is big but still holds a shape of a female which would be my second source to say it's female. But for now I'd say keep it genderless." Katie said.  
"What do you mean by 'if it is a genetically altered animal'? Is there another possibility that we should be thinking about?" Logan asked.  
"Well, evolution could play a role, this could very well be a new species. it's a small possibility but it is out there. Besides, you did say you saw one in London." Katie explained  
"True, we don't know what exactly it's migration patterns are or if it even has one. We also don't know what types of abilities it has." Logan agreed  
"But it could be safe to say that it does have a migration pattern. Think about it, why does it disappear for months or weeks even years at a time?" Kendall added  
"Ok, say it does migrate, we still don't know how, why or where it goes." James said.  
"We don't know much about this animal at all." Logan said exasperated.  
"why don't we just start from the bottom and work our way up? I'm sure we can come up with all kinds of research and experiments based on the stuff we have." Camille suggested.  
"We would all have to work on this on our own time, shooing starts tomorrow and after that its another tour season." James said.  
"Alright we can do this, we just need to take one section and work on it exclusively. Kendall and James, I would suggest working together on working out a timeline of appearances as well as mapping out locations seen in or heading too. Logan and I can work on the research of the animal itself such as physical attributes and temperament characteristics. Camille and Carlos, you guys can work out anything else and be the middle man between the two groups. No doubt we all saw something different and every view helps." Katie instructed, taking the lead. The pairs got straight to work and worked through the afternoon as the piled up papers and chalkboards full of information.

***AN* Bear in mind this story is different than things I have written before for this website. This story could be considered an experiment on my own behalf. I'm publishing it here just for a safe place so to speak. whether readers like it or dont, doesnt matter to me, at least not on this story. I'm trying different things on this one so it really is for my own benefit. Feel free to leave feedback thoughts opinions, foreshadowing, let downs, changes etc. I'm not going to go back and change what I wrote but I can always use suggestions in future stories but no promises, sorry. This is also a reason as to why the grammar, spelling and overall outline and setup are the way they are, I'm treating this as a rough draft story, published for safe keeping/feedback. No need to leave comments on the bad spelling, punctuation, capitalization and what not, I'm aware of it but like I said, this is just a rough draft story since I am trying something new.***


	7. Chapter 7

**_*AN* The character "Katie Knight"- does not exist in any of my stories (at least for the time being.) Any mention of "Katie" is an OC based off me. _**

**_Just a heads up, I will be changing the titles of some of my stories soon. As I mentioned in a past AN I was trying to make a series and then use only one word to describe the story as a whole and that word would also be used as a revelation or opening/closing line. I got a little bored with this one and it was getting hard to come up with clever names._**

**_This is going to be longer than I thought, only because the plot is starting to come together and I want to try my luck at throwing in some clues/twists/turns/cliff hangers. Bear with me as I take a slow stroll through this story. *  
_**

After a toiling day of research, they called it a day, satisfied of their findings. They developed enough theories and information to put together a decent sized case. They put it on hold as they began their filming season although occasionally talked about it during breaks. Only during vacation could they go out in search of the animal, everyone taking turns. Almost the entire known cast except for the parents and children went out on the hunt although most nights they came up empty handed.  
Logan and Katie continued their research on the photos and videos going over each one several times, picking apart each frame for its movements, physical, mental and emotional attributes and other such characteristics. They did the brunt of the work, combining Logan's knowledge of math, medicine and science with Katie's knowledge of canine science. Kendall, James, Lucy and Camille filled in blanks in the information based on what they remembered or heard on the news.  
Katie and Logan were sitting together in the break room working on the case in their free time; it had been a few weeks since any of them looked at it.  
"Logan, do you still have that piece of fur that James found?"  
"Uh…" he said as he began to search his bag. "Yep, I do." he said handing to her. "Did you think of something?"  
"I just wanted to look over it again in case I missed something." she said working it over. She put it down again and checked over her notes but found nothing new. "I'm going to get some more water, I'll be right back."  
"Grab me a soda from my fridge?" he asked.  
"Sure." she said on the way out. Logan put his nose back into his computer. Something began to click and he double checked all his notes before running to Kendall's room. Katie came back to see Logan gone, no note or sign of him anywhere so she left him his soda and took a walk to the bathroom.  
"Kendall!" Logan yelled through the door as he knocked but there was no answer. "Kendall wake up and open the door, it's important!"  
Kendall opened the door, obviously tired and a little grumpy but he had no time to tell Logan off before he came in and set up his computer.  
"Come look at this."  
"What is it?"  
"These are some of the pictures I collected from various sources as well as mine that I took."  
"I saw these."  
"Yes, but I've been going over them again and again, looking for anything that might stick out and I think I got something." he began. "Katie and I were working out some of the basics as far as different characteristics and attributes but that's not what I'm here to show you. Look at these similarities here, here and here." he pointed using his mouse. I cross referenced these pictures with other ones and all the features are the same. There are no discernable characteristics between these pictures."  
"So what does that mean, that there is only one?"  
"That's the thing, I'm not sure yet, it still could go either way. Without DNA testing from all sites, it will be nearly impossible to be sure. Also without knowing the lifestyle of this animal it will be difficult to tell if the fur serves a purpose. For example, zebras' stripes allow them to blend in with each other plus each pattern is different; like a finger print, no two are a like. He same could be said about this animal's fur but like I said, without DNA and lifestyle knowledge, it cant be certain."  
"Ok then what was the point of this?"  
"Well I found something else that was bothering me. Remember a while back when scientists said they found human DNA mixed with the sample?"  
"Yeah…?"  
"Check out this picture." he said, taping away on his computer and turning it to Kendall. Kendall looked at it for a while before shaking his head.  
"I don't get it, what am I looking at? I know it's the animal but what exactly…?"  
"I don't think it's the flash but look at the fur over here. Do you see a red hue?"  
"I do."  
"It only seems to be on the neck fur, like a mane of a horse. And look at this over here, I found this shiny spot on the fur and I used some enhancement software to bring in a close up of what appears to be some sort of medal."  
"Did you find out what it was?"  
"I did as much as I could but there was only a portion showing to begin with, so I only have a sliver of it. However it is enough to determine the size and there are a few markings which I cross referenced with some popular gang and ritualistic signs and symbols that are popular on this side of the country and I came back with 4 hits." Logan said calling up the matches.  
"Wow, that's pretty good." Kendall said. He squinted at the screen before taking a closer look. "I've seen this one before." he said pointing to match number 3.  
"Where?"  
"I don't remember off the top of my head." Kendall replied  
"Hmmm. Well it came up as a satanic symbol used for declaration. I couldn't find much on it, I don't even know what it's called." Logan explained  
"Lucy!" Kendall suddenly said  
"What?"  
"That's where I've seen that symbol, Lucy wears a pendant with that symbol around her neck everyday. Maybe she knows what it means." Kendall explained  
"Good call." Logan said as they went to her room

"My pendant?" Lucy questioned  
"Yeah, what does it mean?" Kendall asked  
"I don't know, I just wear it because I thought it was cute. It was too pretty with all the stones and colors that I couldn't resist picking it up." she explained. Lucy's rocker look often made people mistake her for a Satan worshiper or some other alternative lifestyle label.  
"I found it under Satanic symbols." Logan said.  
"What! Oh my god!" She said unhooking it. "No wonder I have been getting dirty looks!"

Without any further indications of what they started, Kendall and Logan went back to their own rooms. Kendall went back to sleep and Logan kept chugging away at the research. Logan made notes for Katie to check over when she was free but she was busy the rest of the day so who knows how long it would be until she had some free time again.  
"Another update in the case of the mysterious beast called Demon. It has been spotted yet again and according to some witnesses, it was seen chasing and devouring a renowned gang member and closest posse. Although Demon appeared to be gentle and lost, this change in behavior is unsettling and police and officials order residents to stay inside at night, when the animal is most active. Chief of police states 'It's best if residents stay out of our way so we can do our best to subdue the animal without innocent bystanders getting hurt. We want to survey this animal in hopes of finding out exactly what it is and why it has settled in LA, however because of it's recent behavior change, we cant assure that safety is no longer relevant.' The anchor said.  
"Oh no! They cant kill it!" Camille said.  
"they wont kill it unless they have to. They are going to try to catch it first to study it but if it becomes to dangerous then they'll kill it." James explained.  
"Neither of those sounds like a better option. I don't believe it is dangerous, I think its just because of all the attention." Camille said.  
"It is growing at a pretty good rate as of recently so maybe it reached its maturity level and that's why it has gotten so out of hand so to speak." Logan added.  
"Then it's time we step up and take matters into our own hands. We need to really hit this research head on and find out when and where it will strike next. We need to get a hold of this animal before anyone else does."  
"Agreed." Lucy said. "But I wont be tagging along anymore, I have to work on another project for the studio."  
"No problem, one of the Jennifers' asked if she could tag along and help out." Carlos said  
"Really?" Logan asked  
"yeah, she said she felt sorry for it."  
"Jennifer #3" they all said in unison.  
"Ok, we start the search our first vacation night. Until then hit the books!" Kendall instructed.

***AN* Bear in mind this story is different than things I have written before for this website. This story could be considered an experiment on my own behalf. I'm publishing it here just for a safe place so to speak. whether readers like it or dont, doesnt matter to me, at least not on this story. I'm trying different things on this one so it really is for my own benefit. Feel free to leave feedback thoughts opinions, foreshadowing, let downs, changes etc. I'm not going to go back and change what I wrote but I can always use suggestions in future stories but no promises, sorry. This is also a reason as to why the grammar, spelling and overall outline and setup are the way they are, I'm treating this as a rough draft story, published for safe keeping/feedback. No need to leave comments on the bad spelling, punctuation, capitalization and what not, I'm aware of it but like I said, this is just a rough draft story since I am trying something new.***


	8. Chapter 8

**_*AN* The character "Katie Knight"- does not exist in any of my stories (at least for the time being.) Any mention of "Katie" is an OC based off me. _**

**_Just a heads up, I will be changing the titles of some of my stories soon. As I mentioned in a past AN I was trying to make a series and then use only one word to describe the story as a whole and that word would also be used as a revelation or opening/closing line. I got a little bored with this one and it was getting hard to come up with clever names._**

**_This is going to be longer than I thought, only because the plot is starting to come together and I want to try my luck at throwing in some clues/twists/turns/cliff hangers. Bear with me as I take a slow stroll through this story. *  
_**

**_*NEW* The annual summer festival is starting again and this week will be full of work and I am on call. Updates, and new stories may begin to slow down until after the festival is all done and cleaned up which will go into early next week.*  
_**

The first night out was unsuccessful but after further research, Logan came up with a slight pattern in its path. It often went down Hollywood ave, the only road that leads to the hills of the Hollywood sign, in fact, it was the only place it led. However they couldn't be so sure, with it's new height and power, it could easily jump and dodge its way back to the main road. The second night they retraced their steps and after no findings, went down Hollywood ave carefully and quietly and as they approached the base of the mountains, they realized there was no turning back. This could very well be where the animal lives between appearances.  
They didn't get far before police spotted them and told them to go home. Even after they stated their business, the officers told them not to worry about it and to just mind their own business. The group left unwillingly but were determined to come back some other time. They began to walk back and were eventually back in town where they ran across something strange. They found large prints that weren't there before, they followed them to a clearing where the animal was laying down, resting and alert.  
It's super sense of smell and hearing told it that the group was near but it ignored them until they got closer. When it turned to them it didn't growl or bark or whatever noise it might have made. Instead it just watched silently as they approached with their paintball guns pointed ready to strike. Logan and Carlos approached it without weapons and the beast outstretched its neck to greet them. It wagged its tail lightly but remained cautious. Logan pulled out a syringe in hopes of getting a blood sample, he new it was dangerous but they all wanted to know. He felt his way along the animal as it lay in silence, and gave a small pinch in a fleshy area before sticking it in.  
Despite its sheer size which had only gotten bigger, it still jumped at the pinch of the needle. It didn't kick out or bite, instead it just let out a low growl and huff. In seconds Logan was done and capped the syringe and pulled out other collection containers for other samples. Everyone was surprised at not only Logan's ability to work without fear but the animal's willingness to let strangers touch and handle it. Although something in it's eyes was familiar.

The next day Logan and James snuck into the science lab set for the show Criminal Investigation. It was a real working set and Logan used it to his advantage. He ran all the samples that he had and each one came back different, however they all had a common element. James kept watch and peeked in to see Logan sitting in a slump.  
"Did you fin anything?"  
"I ran the test several times and they keep coming back the same. There is human DNA in these samples. I don't believe myself but I think Carlos may have been on to something when he said maybe this thing was human."  
"You're saying that human mutation is real?"  
"I don't want to but it's staring me in the face right here." Logan pointed. James took a look as well but really didn't understand what he was seeing. "it's a big step in solving this mystery but at the same time, it opens so many doors."

"Hear me out, this is crazy but tell me if you've noticed anything strange or familiar about this thing?" Kendall began after hearing Logan's news.  
"Strange how?" Logan questioned.  
"The pictures you showed me; the animal had red streaks in it's mane, a pendant that looked similar to Lucy's and not to mention, and this is a stretch, it's eyes were familiar." Kendall explained  
"What are you getting at?" Camille asked.  
"Every time the animal appeared, where was Lucy?" Kendall finally said. The room went silent as they all thought it through and then came to realize Kendall's suggestion.

"What! You think I'm the demon! What the hell, I thought you guys were my friends and now you accuse me of being a monster!" Lucy yelled  
"Lucy, the evidence is right there, the red streaks, the pendant you wore, and the eyes looked just like yours except for the color." Kendall began  
"Not only that, but every time it appeared you were no where to be found." James added  
"Plus you were the first one to defend it." Carlos reminded.  
"I dont believe this…" Lucy said hanging her head in frustration. "Do you really believe that I'm the monstrosity that everyone has been talking about? What about the first time it showed up? I was at the cast party with you guys!"  
"You were the first one to leave." Kendall accused  
"Kelly, Katie and Dak weren't there either you know. Why not ask them?" Lucy defended  
"Because the profile fits you better." James added  
"You came in on crutches the same week we came back from the UK. You had the same type of injury on the same foot in the same place even!" Logan recalled  
"Oh…my god you guys are out of your minds." Lucy said "I told you about that, I didn't see where I was running and got jabbed in the foot with a slab of glass!"  
"Just tell us that you're the demon and we'll call it a day." Carlos said  
"I'm not the demon!" she yelled  
"Maybe she doesn't remember." James offered  
"That is a possibility, she may have no recollection of anything after she transforms between formations." Logan admitted  
"Ugh!" Lucy said in frustration. "You said you found human DNA in this animal but did it occur to you to cross reference it and found out who's it was?"  
"We tried but no matches came back." Kendall said.  
"Fine, I'll give you my DNA, in fact, get everyone's and put it in so we can found out once and for all who it is and that you will believe me when I say it isn't me!" Lucy said. After a moment of silence as Lucy stared at them, Kendall gave Logan a nudge to get the DNA he needed. He was a bit scared but managed to get it done. He also went to everyone else in the cast, saying he was conducting an experiment for a college class he was taking and they happily obliged. He had several dozen samples to work with and spent the next 3 hours in the CI laboratory, running all the initial scans and then running each sample against the DNA they already had.  
"Hey, Logan, how's it coming?" Kendall asked  
"I havent gotten very far, I'm just starting the cross referencing." Logan replied. A ding from the computer made him turn back.  
"What is it?" Kendall asked curiously, walking in.  
"Lucy is a negative match." Logan stated  
"So she really wasn't the demon?" Kendall sighed.  
"I guess not. We have some sincere apologizing to do." Logan said  
"I'm already on it." Kendall said scrolling on his phone. "What's her favorite flower?"  
"Orchids." he replied. He turned to Kendall, leaving the machine going as he waited to see what Kendall was up to. He helped him put in the order for Lucy's flowers and then offered to order her favorite cupcakes. An alert interrupted their discussion and Logan turned to see the screen flashing in urgency.  
"Match found…" Kendall read. "I thought Lucy wasn't a match?"  
"She isn't."  
"Then-"  
"It must have went on to the next sample. If Lucy isn't a match then I don't understand how anyone else would be-uh…" Logan paused as he opened the results. Kendall looked up from his phone and walked to the computer to read what Logan was seeing. Both stared at the screen for a while in shock and awe, not sure where to go from here, they just looked at each other hoping the other would know what to do. It was silent for a long time before Carlos broke the silence, checking in on the two of them. Carlos was keeping watch and got curious. Before he could say anything, he saw the screen and his friends' looks and it told him everything.

***AN* Bear in mind this story is different than things I have written before for this website. This story could be considered an experiment on my own behalf. I'm publishing it here just for a safe place so to speak. whether readers like it or dont, doesnt matter to me, at least not on this story. I'm trying different things on this one so it really is for my own benefit. Feel free to leave feedback thoughts opinions, foreshadowing, let downs, changes etc. I'm not going to go back and change what I wrote but I can always use suggestions in future stories but no promises, sorry. This is also a reason as to why the grammar, spelling and overall outline and setup are the way they are, I'm treating this as a rough draft story, published for safe keeping/feedback. No need to leave comments on the bad spelling, punctuation, capitalization and what not, I'm aware of it but like I said, this is just a rough draft story since I am trying something new.***


	9. Chapter 9

**_*AN* The character "Katie Knight"- does not exist in any of my stories (at least for the time being.) Any mention of "Katie" is an OC based off me. _**

**_Just a heads up, I will be changing the titles of some of my stories soon. As I mentioned in a past AN I was trying to make a series and then use only one word to describe the story as a whole and that word would also be used as a revelation or opening/closing line. I got a little bored with this one and it was getting hard to come up with clever names._**

**_This is going to be longer than I thought, only because the plot is starting to come together and I want to try my luck at throwing in some clues/twists/turns/cliff hangers. Bear with me as I take a slow stroll through this story. *  
_**

**_*NEW* The annual summer festival is starting again and this week will be full of work and I am on call. Updates, and new stories may begin to slow down until after the festival is all done and cleaned up which will go into early next week.*  
_**

New spread quickly and plans were made; filming was put on halt to finish this job that everyone so desperately wanted to take part in. Kendall, Logan, James, Carlos, Camille, Lucy, the Jennifers, and Dak suited up, garnered their weapons and lead additional help from some staff members and even parents. Wasting no time, they made their way to the base of Hollywood mountain and quickly spilt up and took a different path quietly as they snuck up past the barricade, that kept everyone out. They knew it was up here or at least this was where it lived and it was the first place to start.  
It was dark going up the mountain and they did their best to make their way up without the use of flashlights. The sign was lit up and it was just enough to help guide them and completely lit up the landing on which the sign sat; however the space was barren of the animal. Instead, a large fenced in area stood on most of the ground along with various pieces of equipment. As the different teams found their way up, Logan took the initiative as he figured out all of the equipment which appeared to be mostly surveillance tools.  
Next to a large telescope, equipped with night vision, lay a GPS that was displaying a moving target. Dak looked through the scope after getting directions from Logan and spotted the target. Despite it's sheer size, the beast had no problem sneaking through the city nearly undetected.  
"More victims, looks like 4 this time." he said. The group sighed and looked disheartened. "Coming back this way!" he announced. Everyone panicked for a moment before taking cover behind the sign and in the bushes. In seconds the beast was back in the hills, it's movement unparalleled. It walked over to the cage and lifting its head over the inside, opened its mouth and regurgitated the 4 bodies it had just presumably eaten. The bodies quickly began to move and were alive and well. Sighs of relief came over everyone who saw it but were still baffled at what was unfolding.  
The superior hearing of the animals detected the sighing with little effort and it looked towards the hiding spots, everyone tried to camouflage themselves into. It smelled the air and took a step forward before pricking it's ears, looking up, past them, and then in the opposite direction. It slinked over to the side and the group could see a large unmarked van pull up to the enclosure, open it with a key and remove the gentlemen inside, handcuffing them and putting them into the van.  
The animal sat in wait on the edge of the flat and waited for the signal and the van to drive off. It waited for a minute before it got up and made it's way over to the brush.  
"I know you are there, I can smell all of you. It is safe for you to come out for the time being." a voice said. Its direction was coming from the animal but no one could believe that an animal just talked, plus it didn't move it's mouth. When no one moved, it became slightly angered and called them out by name.  
"Why do you fear me? I may be different on the outside and a little bit on the inside but I can assure you that I am the same as I always was. I wish you hadn't stuck your noses into this business, that way we could have kept things between us as they were. Like I am not hated enough in this world" it continued, turning away.  
"Katie. Wait." Kendall said. The beast stopped, not turning around and just waited to hear him out. "We did fear you in the beginning but only because we didn't know the truth."  
"And now that you know?" she retorted. Silence came back at her. "I see. Nothing has changed even after all these years."  
"Years?" Logan spoke up. "how many?"  
"Let's put it this way, each year I exist on this earth, the more power and talents I receive. I'm sure you have witnessed my unmatched speed and strength. And then there is this telepathy, which is how I am able to speak, one of the most advanced powers available." she explained.  
"Why couldn't you just tell us?" Camille asked  
"I've kept it secret so long, its become natural to hide it. In the beginning I wasn't readily accepted either; keep in mind, I've lived through the Salem witch trials. Granted I am immortal until my job is done but still." she explained  
"But we're your friends!" Carlos said  
"I've been told that many times and still nothing changed; I was outcast, chased and threatened each and every time." She said  
"This is a different time and we really do like you; in fact I think it's cool. Its going to take some getting used to but we can all make this work." Kendall assured; the others agreed.  
"You can honestly say, you are not repulsed by the monster at which I have become?"  
"What monster? All I see is parts of different animals coming together on a faithful companion." James spoke up. Katie wagged her long winding tail and pricked her ears in happiness. "You may not look it now, but you are human on the inside and it is what we have come to love."  
"We arent going to outcast you because of this, you're too much a loyal friend, plus you have been helping the world out for so long, I think it's time someone returns the favor." Dak said.  
"Not only that, I think it'd be pretty damn cool to have a best friend with super powers. I cant be the only one thinking that can I?" Lucy asked.  
"I love animals, just as much as you, although I know I'll never have the knowledge that you do, it brings me one step closer on learning all I can. Despite your powers and abnormalities about you, you really are just an oversized dog." Kendall noted.  
"True, I am. Canine is the base form, it is my soul animal, my spirit animal is a tiger."  
"What's the difference?"  
"My spirit is like a tiger, alone but powerful. I cant transform into it. My soul animal is what I can turn into."  
"Out of curiosity, what other animals are you?"  
"Like I said, Canine is the base form, it is what I resemble most, however my tail is that of an anaconda's body, prehensile yet strong, my paws are large like a lion's so there is more impaction space, plus claws of an eagle." she said outstretching her paw and extending the claws. "Other animals arent all that visible, my intelligence has since risen to nearly 200 IQ, I have the speed of a cheetah, stamina of a horse plus many other attributes and personality traits of one, strength of an elephant, movements and agility of cats both great and small and the ability to swim powerfully like a dolphin. But these abilities have multiplied over the years and I have become the ultimate 'machine' I guess you could say."  
"Wouldn't the ultimate machine be able to fly?" Kelly asked. Katie stood from a sitting position and in a flash without so much as a pin drop, 2 large wings protruded majestically on either side. "Well alright then."  
"You know, I'd hate to ask this, and feel free to say no, but can I ride you like a horse?" One of the Jennifer's asked. Stunned at the question it was quiet before anyone responded.  
"Anyone else want to go for one?" Katie said "I can carry up to 6 people at one time although I recommend only 5."  
"Seems dangerous…" Logan said, declining the first ride.  
"Not when I'm wearing the saddle" she replied. She walked to a tent and nudged it with her nose to flip it over. A mechanical saddle, complete with 6 seats lay on top of a catwalk. It was easy to see that it was specially designed for her with cut out for her wings and shoulder blades to allow full movement. She walked under the holder, stepped through the harness with care and to the catwalk where Carlos, James, Kendall, Jennifer #3 and Lucy were waiting. One by one they each climbed on and took a seat, there were no belts but there were handle bars and stirrups. James took the lead, grabbing hold of the reins around her neck. She bent down, grabbed the bit and with the help of Logan and Camille, they slid the band over her snout, it was a simple bridle and only had the one loop.  
Once everyone was set, James tested the reins out of habit from when he used to ride and Katie looked back. She instructed him noting that it wasn't necessary to guide her, she knew where to go but the reins did serve the same purpose in case the directions were different. She began to walk around in a circle to allow the riders to get a good feel for what it would be like then a quick jog. When everyone was fine and set to go she cantered off towards the edge of the flat, with strides of nearly 100 yards, it didn't take long for them to reach the edge and in an instant she took off with force as she jumped from the cliff and soared.  
No one noticed her wings shooting out as the flew above the streets of Hollywood, the view was magnificent. They flew for several minutes, the only sounds they heard were their own as they marveled at the sight and the experience. Katie wasn't flying that high but she was flying fast, On the ground she was faster than a cheetah with her long strides but in the air she could fly almost as fast a diving hawk. 200 mph would be a little too much for the mortals she carried on her back so she often flew at only 100 mph or less. After 10 minutes she came back in for a landing, years of practice had nearly perfected the art but sometimes it still proposed a challenge. She took a wide swing in the open and began to slow down her speed, using her wings as a bit of a parachute. She came in slow but still heard a few whimpers as she tilted to land. She took a few steps in a trot before turning to walk back to the platform and take the next group.

***AN* Bear in mind this story is different than things I have written before for this website. This story could be considered an experiment on my own behalf. I'm publishing it here just for a safe place so to speak. whether readers like it or dont, doesnt matter to me, at least not on this story. I'm trying different things on this one so it really is for my own benefit. Feel free to leave feedback thoughts opinions, foreshadowing, let downs, changes etc. I'm not going to go back and change what I wrote but I can always use suggestions in future stories but no promises, sorry. This is also a reason as to why the grammar, spelling and overall outline and setup are the way they are, I'm treating this as a rough draft story, published for safe keeping/feedback. No need to leave comments on the bad spelling, punctuation, capitalization and what not, I'm aware of it but like I said, this is just a rough draft story since I am trying something new.***

**BONUS: Additional Dialogue:  
**

****  
"I've witnessed countless moon cycles and orbits around the sun. I've seen land turn to populous places and many wars to make this land what it is today. Much of what is written in today's history text, book I have seen for myself."  
"But why?"  
"Why? It's simple. People fear change. My job is to change the world somehow, I must make a difference for the greater good of humanity before it wipes itself out of existence. Until that day comes, I am cursed to walk this earth as I am."  
"is that why you've been devouring gang members?"  
"Part of the reason, although I do not kill them. Part of me wishes that I did; it would end much of the crime but alas I would just be continuing the cycle. I do not know, what change I need to make that keeps me here, I have tried everything in my power but yet I come up empty handed. Each time I fail, I become more demonized and must find a new way but alas I have run out of ideas."  
"What's with the gang members then?"  
"I was found roaming the streets by police in my home state. Once they realized my potential and that I meant no harm, the world order of police assigned me to help them make the world a better place. It was supposed to be an even give and take but that was over 75 years ago. Over the past few years, my talents were used less and I had more time to focus on just being normal for a change. No one was any the wiser and I for one was happy."  
"How were you able to be human?"  
"My curse wasn't made to make me suffer, although it is all that I have done. I am able to retain my human form for much of the time, it may not look like it now but human is what I am, it is my main form. I was born human and cursed late in life. However like many curses, it has to do with alignment of space; once a month, when the moon begins a new cycle, I transform into this form to gain power for the month, much like a recharge but also, it is when I gain all my features that I have collected. Often it is a night of pain. I can change into my form at will day and night although I am most powerful/agile at night."


	10. Chapter 10

**_*AN* The character "Katie Knight"- does not exist in any of my stories (at least for the time being.) Any mention of "Katie" is an OC based off me. _**

**_Just a heads up, I will be changing the titles of some of my stories soon. As I mentioned in a past AN I was trying to make a series and then use only one word to describe the story as a whole and that word would also be used as a revelation or opening/closing line. I got a little bored with this one and it was getting hard to come up with clever names._**

**_This is going to be longer than I thought, only because the plot is starting to come together and I want to try my luck at throwing in some clues/twists/turns/cliff hangers. Bear with me as I take a slow stroll through this story. *  
_**

**_*NEW* The annual summer festival is starting again and this week will be full of work and I am on call. Updates, and new stories may begin to slow down until after the festival is all done and cleaned up which will go into early next week.*  
_**

With the weight lifted of keeping the curse a secret for so long, Katie felt more free. Although she was still cursed in the sense that she wasn't fully human anymore, she was no longer ostracized. Eventually it made headlines about the discovery of the beast as Katie no longer cared when she was seen in her beast form. It wasn't all that great for the guys to be seen with her but they didn't care, her identity remained a secret and the public only knew of the tamed beast.  
Eventually the international police association came out with the information that she had been helping reduce crime behind the scenes and would continue to do so without anything to hold her back. She was free to roam during the day instead of being restricted to night time hunts. The thing about her powers was that she could control her transformation for the most part, she could control the parts that she needed; she didn't always have to run at 100mph but she could if she wanted to or she could run a lot slower.  
She had fun with her friends in both forms and everything was alright for once. She was always noticed right away and not too many people were afraid to approach her, she was just as friendly in demon form as she was as a person. The effects of the curse seemed to dwindle a little bit but she didn't take much notice until she realized she no longer gained powers. She wasn't losing the ones she had but something was definitely different. Crime was cut down to almost nothing and eventually, she used her powers for the better good and ran much of the world as a supreme ruler but much kinder than a dictator. The country was still as free as ever but with a few minor changes but that was another story.

"Happy Birthday, Katie!" the guys said bringing in a cake  
"how old are you today anyway?" Logan asked  
"Your real age, not this current life's age." James clarified  
"Today is a special day, I turn 1,500. Much has changed in all this time but I couldn't be happier." She replied  
"And we're glad to have you." Kendall said, putting his arm around her.  
"Both forms" Carlos added  
"From the looks of it, it seems that many people feel the same way, in fact I believe there are a few people outside waiting to say hello." James said walking over to the window. He opened it and she could hear a few cheers. She walked over to see thousands of people lining the street, cheering like mad when she looked it and she couldn't help but cry. She had made an impact in the world and it was for the better. She had changed the world in a lot of ways during her time but nothing had been enough for her to be free of this mission and she was getting sick of it as the days progressed, although her current life couldn't be better.  
"Katie." a voice said gently. Katie and the guys turned around to see a figure standing before them. "you have done well and changed everything for the better. I believed in you from the start and knew you were the one who would save the world from being destroyed. I've seen your sufferings and your time is up, you are now free to live in peace in the world beyond."  
Katie knew there was something familiar about these beings but it had been so long since she was entrusted with the mission that she barely had any recollection of the missions details or the beings that had cursed her all those years ago.  
"I did my best and I hope I pleased you but I do have one favor to ask." she replied.  
"What is it?" the being asked  
"May I stay on this earth to live out the last of my lifetimes?" she asked on one knee. Silence filled the room. "I have had no greater life than the one I am living and I wish to stay so that I may enjoy life to the fullest as a normal mortal, something that I have missed out on greatly." Katie said  
"Your wish is granted as thanks for your servitude. Bear in mind that until you make the world beyond your new home, you will never be free from the curse. Do you still wish to stay?" the being asked  
"I do. Without a doubt." Katie replied without hesitation.  
"So be it. I grant you peace and freedom and I shall see you one day on the other side after a job well done." the being said before disappearing into the air. Reassurance from the guys helped her out a little bit as she cried in happiness.  
"Sorry that you're still cursed."  
"It's ok, I've learned to live with it for this long and I can control, I don't need it anymore. I just really wanted to stay, you guys have made me the happiest I have ever been in 1500 years, this life is more than anything I could ever imagine. I don't have much from my original span but I think it is about time to move on and create a new life and new memories."  
"And we'll be there every step of the way." Carlos assured. Katie smiled and hugged him. It was the start of a new life and things couldn't get any better.

"Ready to start another season?" Carlos asked  
"You bet!" Katie happily replied. The two walked to the set after chilling in their own dressing rooms for an hour and began quickly. They joined Kendall, Lucy and Mrs. Knight in another hair raising scene full of the usual antics. After blocking the set and doing a quick run through it was time to shoot. Katie had a huge smile on her face as the guys made her laugh between takes but as soon as the familiar black and white take count was visible she turned off like a switch.  
Halfway through the scene it began to get a little windy, but being inside a closed stage with no fans on, it was curious as to why there would be wind. Soon enough, the wind got stronger and papers sent flying before encircling Katie quickly and with vengeance. She was scared and just stood still looking around for a second before covering her face and whimpering in fear. The guys were not only confused but scared; they didn't know what was happening or what to do but just as soon as it started, it finished and she was surrounded by friends and calmed down quickly.  
Everyone was given a quick break to settle down and Katie wasted no time in making her way to the lounge to get a drink of water. She sat on the couch to try and shake off a nagging feeling that something was wrong. She figured she was just shaken up from the innocent windstorm and she felt petty about it. She was a little light headed and dizzy and suddenly became quite fatigued. She sat back on the couch, too weak to move and was there or several minutes until stage hand, Hank came by looking for the cast members who missed call her being one of them. She didn't even hear anything and Hank could see something was wrong, her speech was slurred a bit and her overall responses slow.  
She was checked over by paramedics and found no injuries and vitals were normal. Katie started to regain her senses but she was still sent to the hospital to be checked out. She was given a clean bill of health after sitting through several tests and Mrs Knight brought her back home where Kendall was waiting impatiently. He and the others were forced to stay behind to get work done and all he could think about was what was going on. Hearing that she was fine and a good night's sleep was all she needed, he relaxed enough that he too turned in and the house soon filled with silence.  
Although she had slept for nearly 12 hours, Katie fussed at the attempts to wake her up the next morning. She wasn't a morning person and never got up before 9am even with several hours of sleep. She eventually did get up and got started with her day. She usually didn't take long to get ready at all, in fact more often then not, she beat Kendall or the others guys and she was waiting for them instead. She prided herself in her looks but just the basics, combed her hair, brushed her teeth and grabbed a t-shirt and jeans from her closet. Unless there was an interview or photo shoot or some other type of event, she took less than 20 minutes to get ready.  
"Katie are you feeling ok?" Kendall asked upon seeing her. She looked different but he wasn't quite sure how.  
"Yeah, I feel alright, a little dragging but that's normal, you know I'm not a morning person."  
"Just checking, you seem a little off."  
"I feel a little off but I'm fine. Let's get going shall we?"  
"Alright then." he said, grabbing his keys and jacket. He unlocked his car and Katie got in the passenger seat and buckled in; Kendall wasn't far behind. Katie was asked the same question by the other costars when she arrived and she finally took a look in the mirror in her room. She couldn't see a difference in her self and just brushed it off since she did feel fine. She worked for 4 hours before they broke for lunch; her, Logan, Camille, Lucy and James had an hour to themselves and figured they would spend it outside to let off some steam. They ran around the lot for a while having fun tossing a Frisbee, doing a little skate boarding and other activities. Katie quickly wore out and concern that something was wrong quickly escalated. Even in human form, Katie had access to her unlimited power and never tired, easily outrunning all of them but this was a first.  
"I don't know, this hasn't happened before as far as I can remember."  
"Maybe its just because you havent been in your demon form in a week?"  
"That could be it. I must have exhausted the reserves I had. Let's continue then, I'll go easy on you and stay in a small form" she smiled. They all ran down the lot, Katie not far behind. Transforming took no effort on her part, in fact it often felt like it was as easy as breathing, she could control it better than breathing but she couldn't begin to explain how and why it worked the way it did. She fully expected to transform but when she hit the pavement and felt pain she knew something was very wrong.

***AN* Bear in mind this story is different than things I have written before for this website. This story could be considered an experiment on my own behalf. I'm publishing it here just for a safe place so to speak. whether readers like it or dont, doesnt matter to me, at least not on this story. I'm trying different things on this one so it really is for my own benefit. Feel free to leave feedback thoughts opinions, foreshadowing, let downs, changes etc. I'm not going to go back and change what I wrote but I can always use suggestions in future stories but no promises, sorry. This is also a reason as to why the grammar, spelling and overall outline and setup are the way they are, I'm treating this as a rough draft story, published for safe keeping/feedback. No need to leave comments on the bad spelling, punctuation, capitalization and what not, I'm aware of it but like I said, this is just a rough draft story since I am trying something new.***


	11. Chapter 11

**_*AN* The character "Katie Knight"- does not exist in any of my stories (at least for the time being.) Any mention of "Katie" is an OC based off me. _**

**_Just a heads up, I will be changing the titles of some of my stories soon. As I mentioned in a past AN I was trying to make a series and then use only one word to describe the story as a whole and that word would also be used as a revelation or opening/closing line. I got a little bored with this one and it was getting hard to come up with clever names._**

**_This is going to be longer than I thought, only because the plot is starting to come together and I want to try my luck at throwing in some clues/twists/turns/cliff hangers. Bear with me as I take a slow stroll through this story. *  
_**

**_*NEW* The annual summer festival is starting again and this week will be full of work and I am on call. Updates, and new stories may begin to slow down until after the festival is all done and cleaned up which will go into early next week.*  
_**

She wasn't expecting to hit the pavement and had knocked her self out for a few seconds; when she came too she saw her friends standing over her in worry.  
"Ok, something is definitely up with you!" Logan said  
"What happened?" Camille asked concerned  
"I-I don't know. I tried to transform and I fully expected to land on all fours but instead I met the tar…"  
"You cant transform?" Lucy repeated  
"Did you wait too long?" Logan asked  
"No I don't think it has anything to do with that…I really cant be sure, I've never had a problem transforming even when I was exhausted." Katie said  
"Well then how come all of a sudden you're acting like a regular human like us?" James asked  
"Human…?" Katie repeated as she faded off. She got up and thought for a moment; she was looking past her friends before she ran off back inside the studio. The others stood stunned at her behavior and weren't sure what to do but eventually the girls followed her inside, although they didn't know where she went. Katie was in her dressing room, standing in front of her mirror. She looked at herself in the eyes and could see that her eyes were a normal shade of blue as usual in her human form but she couldn't change them to her golden wolves eyes. Her senses were less acute and everything sounded muffled and looked blurry although her eyes were still perfect 20/20 she just lacked the sharpness of a falcon's eyesight.  
She moved the collar of her shirt to find her demon summoning pendant was gone. It never left her neck and became a part of her in a way she thought that maybe it had finally slid off or broke somewhere but it didn't make a lot of sense since she could transform without it before. She pulled the collar of her shirt downwards, just below her left shoulder to see plain skin; the seal that bound her to an immortal life was gone. Instead it was replaced with a mortal beating heart.  
She stood in shock at the new finding and had mixed feelings. She finally got the mortal life that she had hoped for but she lost her demon powers that she had learned to love and live with. For the time that everyone thought she was mortal, it was great but when they found out about her powers, life began a new and was even better. Now how would her friends react to find out that she is just a normal being now, like them? Would they accept the new her or would she be outcast again? Furthermore, why did her powers disappear?  
She was interrupted by a knock on her door, after checking who it was, she let the girls in.  
"Katie, are you ok? What's going on?" Lucy asked concerned  
"My powers are gone."  
"…G-Gone?"  
"Yeah, the seal and the pendant are both gone, look." she said pulling down the collar of her shirt.  
"So does this mean you are full human now?"  
"It does. It's going to take some getting used to. It's been years since I had physical limitations such as running, I'm going to tire out very easily until I get used to it all."  
"Well we helped you adjust before, and we can help out now." Camille assured. A knock on the door followed by Logan's voice broke them apart briefly as Lucy opened the door and pulled them inside. They explained everything quickly and although stunned they could see the evidence staring them in the face. James couldn't help but give her a hug.  
"As much as I loved you with your powers, its nice to know that you can now live amongst us as a real human. Just like you deserve." he said.  
"I think everyone else should know as soon as possible, this is cause for celebration." Logan said. "I'm going to miss your powers too but its about time we get to hang out with the real you."  
After their fellow cast members finished a take, Logan, James, Lucy and Camille wasted no time in announcing the news, responses ranged from shocked to happy. Her powers would be missed by all and Katie herself would need to learn to adjust to life without them but this was something that she always wanted: to be accepted for who she is no matter what and to live a normal life. And she did, she retained her fame and lived life to the fullest along side her friends and within a few months, adjusted well to her new mortal life and soon the past was all but forgotten.  
The thought on most of their minds was how and why her powers vanished, the rule was that she would retain the demons abilities until she passed on but instead she turned mortal after a year. Many theories were created but without any information, none of them stuck. As time passed life became more normal for everyone and Katie didn't have a care in the world, despite her fears of being ostracized, she remained a huge part of cast family and was able to live out her life in peace as a normal teenage girl.

Katie was in the living room of the Knight residence catching up on some reading when Kendall walked through.  
"What are you reading?" he asked as he grabbed his coat  
"Oh, nothing fancy, just a cute little story on a curse." she replied giving him a quick look  
"Oh?" Kendall replied a little curious, he came over to look at the cover "Cursed."  
"It's about a family that lived with a curse for thousands of years and one by one they are freed by a lone girl who at first no one liked." she explained  
"You find some weird stories." he joked  
"I like it!" she protested.  
"Ok, ok. Want to go out with me? I got to run to the store." he offered  
"Sure." she replied putting down the book.  
"Out of curiosity, did that book have any reasons as to why your curse was lifted?" he wondered  
"I doubt it. All in all, I wasn't really cursed. Sure I didn't have a choice in the matter and the job was forced upon me but my powers never made me suffer in any way other than being shunned. But then again that was normal for me anyway." she said  
"Well I meant did the book have any reasons at all? Whether they were true to you or even possible?"  
"The cure wasn't really set in stone or in black and white, the only thing it said was 'When the one who was never loved, is loved, the ancient promise nears it's end.'"  
"Huh…I get it but it is kinda cheesy."  
"Well what do you expect from a fictional book? Until I came along there was no such thing as curses and supernatural beings according to science. That book was written long ago before all this, its just a fun little story."  
"I can only imagine the books that have come out since your demon side was revealed."  
"I know right?" she replied with a smile. They laughed and joked all day with each other and enjoyed each other's company. No one ever figured out how or why Katie's powers vanished, seemingly into thin air, even Katie was at a total lost but they eventually stopped questioning it and enjoyed what they had.

***AN* Bear in mind this story is different than things I have written before for this website. This story could be considered an experiment on my own behalf. I'm publishing it here just for a safe place so to speak. whether readers like it or dont, doesnt matter to me, at least not on this story. I'm trying different things on this one so it really is for my own benefit. Feel free to leave feedback thoughts opinions, foreshadowing, let downs, changes etc. I'm not going to go back and change what I wrote but I can always use suggestions in future stories but no promises, sorry. This is also a reason as to why the grammar, spelling and overall outline and setup are the way they are, I'm treating this as a rough draft story, published for safe keeping/feedback. No need to leave comments on the bad spelling, punctuation, capitalization and what not, I'm aware of it but like I said, this is just a rough draft story since I am trying something new.***


End file.
